Alien Anthropology: The Ekuz

This is the first of a series of posts that will dig deeper into the lore and background, to be later linked to the History and Background pages. The Alien Anthropology posts will be linked directly to the Alien Races page.

Ekuz History

The ekuz diaspora began about three centuries after the human (by ekuz reckoning; their homeworld’s year is approximately 9,992 hours, as opposed to the 8,766 hours of the Terran standard used by most human historians). The extent of ekuz worlds is still considerably smaller than the human worlds. They are thickest through the Norma, Crux, and Carina arms of the galaxy.

According to some ekuz sources (though the veracity and details are in doubt in some circles), the diaspora started due to a looming interplanetary war in the ekuz home system. (There are hundreds of different names and nearly as many guesses as to the homeworld’s location). One or more of the factions, rather than risk a cataclysmic war that would have involved both nuclear and asteroid weapons, instead built sublight arks from hollowed-out asteroids and fled the system. Some ekuz historians suggest that the tensions leading up to the war might even have been due to one or more factions observing the construction of the arks and believing them to be first-strike asteroid weapons. No one really knows.

Cultures

It is also uncertain to students of alien anthropology just how much cultural separation was already extant aboard the arks as they left, and how much drift happened over the centuries that they were in transit. Ekuz cultures vary, often wildly, across the various worlds they inhabit, either exclusively or in partnership with other races. They have partnered most notably with humans, sefkhit, and tehud.

As with any sapients, it is impossible to pin down a particular set of characteristics for the ekuz as a whole, aside from the physical. Their cultures vary as much as any other race’s. Furthermore, many have assimilated into host cultures on wide-ranging worlds. The Quarisians are a perfect example; while Quarisia was colonized by a joint expedition from Avalore (a human world) and Xhikk (ekuz), the Quarisian culture is far more heavily influenced by the human colonists.

A notable cultural splinter of the ekuz is the Zhuzzh Worlds. Apparently all rising from the same ark or arks, the Zhuzzh Worlds are cluster of six systems not far from the major hub system of Mujwyn. All independent, they nevertheless appear to share a similar philosophy. Deeply xenophobic and isolationist, each of the Zhuzzh Worlds appear to be lockstep totalitarian societies. They are also heavily armed and more than willing to fire on anyone straying into their system.

Biology and Physical Characteristics

Physically, the ekuz are oxygen-breathing, egg-laying hexapods. They have two legs, two arms, and two multi-jointed, intermediate limbs that can do double duty as each. Their heads are triangular, atop relatively long necks, with three eyes and blowholes for nostrils. Something about their vocal structure introduces a buzzing sort of accent when they speak any language but one of their own. Ekuz languages often sound to the human ear like buzzing and clicking anyway.

The ekuz lifespan appears to average between 523,000 and 789,000 hours. Thus placing them close to human lifespans, given a salutary environment.

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